“Our charter states that ASU assumes fundamental responsibility for the economic, social and overall health of the community it serves. Hosting the Sustainability Solutions Festival to highlight innovative ideas and technologies is an example of our institutional commitment to our global community,” said ASU President Michael Crow.

Featured partners for the Festival are GreenBiz Group and The Sustainability Consortium, along with the city of Phoenix, Arizona Science Center and the Arizona SciTech Festival.

A symposium titled “The Future of the University and the University of the Future: A Global Perspective” prominently featured ideas and methods for designing universities that are implemented at ASU. The conference, which took place at the Technical University of Ambato in Ecuador, echoed President Michael Crow’s emphasis on innovation as a driving force of developing universities that meet the needs of their communities.

“This was an international conference on the design of higher education, specifically the place of science, technology and innovation, and the role of public policy, in designing universities and programs to meet the needs of society – particularly the society in which each institution is embedded,” says Parmentier. “They wanted people from different countries to bring their perspective on the role of the university and best practices for university design.”

Nancy Grimm, senior sustainability scientist and director of CAP LTER, is a member of the Royal Society working group that informed a recent report on climate change resilience. The report advises that communities take steps to prepare for extreme weather events, which are expected to increase in frequency. Recommendations include financial system changes and ecological, ecosystem-based adaptations along with large infrastructure projects.

“We need to make sure that large-scale engineering isn’t making us too complacent,” Grimm said in an article released by the Ecological Society of America. “In the developed world we have been heavily reliant on some key large scale pieces of engineering, which have been pushed to their limits during recent events. By using a combination of engineering and more natural approaches we can make sure that we accept occasional small ‘failures’ while limiting the detrimental impact of a large, catastrophic event.”

A recent article, published in The Journal of Environmental Education, details the findings of a study produced by the ASU Wrigley Institute’s Sustainability Science for Sustainable Schools program. The study, conducted by School of Sustainability doctoral graduate Benjamin Warner and senior sustainability scientist Monica Elser, includes a comparison of 59 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools.

The article, titled “How Do Sustainable Schools Integrate Sustainability Education? An Assessment of Certified Sustainable K-12 Schools in the United States,” provides an analysis of the differences between schools that are certified as sustainable, as well as suggests strategies likely to promote whole-school sustainability.

Right now, political-types from virtually every country in the world are gathering in Peru to talk about climate change. They’re working toward a major international agreement about how every nation will pitch in to address global climate change. It’s kind of a big deal.

If you’re not quite ready to sit at the international table, maybe you just need a little help understanding the jargon. Here are six vocabulary lessons to get you ready for the big negotiations.

During the first two weeks of December, representatives from virtually every country in the world will gather at a United Nations convention to talk about climate change. They’re developing an international agreement, slated to be signed in 2015, that will determine how we will mitigate climate change as a global community.

Global climate policy expert Sonja Klinsky, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainability, answers questions about climate change mitigation.

A Thought Leader Series Piece

By Ray Jensen

Note:December marks eight years since the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted at the United Nations headquarters in New York. In this essay, Ray Jensen advocates for a new model to address disability issues, with the goal of improving global sustainability through inclusion.

The romantic biography of theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, The Theory of Everything, was released this month. Its focus is on the relationship of this extraordinary man and Jane Wilde, who weds Hawking and for as long as she is able, embraces the challenges of his life with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). From the trailer, it seems that Hawking received, not a death sentence, but a prison sentence when he was a young man, and gradually was translated into a person with a disability. Sometimes it happens that way.

For other people with disabilities, the point of entry is birth, athletic injury, auto accidents or the violence of war. However it arrives, it is usually unexpected, always unwanted, and often the beginning of a journey that can tax the emotional, financial and relational health, not only of the individual with the disability, but of their family and loved ones.

In an effort to improve sanitation infrastructure in Lagos – the second fastest-growing city in Africa – Nigerian leaders turned to ASU and the City of Phoenix’s Resource Innovation and Solutions Network (RISN). The partnership has resulted in a hub at Sustainability School Lagos called RISN Nigeria, which harnesses the knowledge of academics, practitioners, consultants and students to inform waste management in Lagos.

A new course called Creating Living Buildings – offered through ASU’s School of Sustainability and taught by Senior Sustainability Scientist Mick Dalrymple – imparts the principles of the Living Building Challenge. The challenge was established by the International Living Future Institute based on a philosophy that buildings are functionally embedded in ecosystems rather than separate from them.

“We want to inform the next generation of green building professionals on the Living Building Challenge and what Living Buildings are,” said Dalrymple, also a practice lead for the Global Sustainability Solutions Services. “Buildings consume natural resources, contribute to climate change and impact human health and productivity. Instead of thinking of green buildings as being less bad, we should think about how buildings can do more good, and that’s the philosophy behind the Living Building Challenge.”

With a mission of reaching consensus for wise water policy and lasting solutions in Arizona, the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy was officially launched Nov. 14. Made possible by a $1 million gift from the Morrison family and named after retired U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, the Kyl Center will convene a diverse group of stakeholders to collaboratively address many of the state’s water challenges.

According to Kyl, the center will not be a competitor of existing water centers or efforts, but rather a collaborator and partner in finding new ways to address challenges for our growing state. It will serve as a forum for public evaluation and education, as well as an alternative to litigation for more expeditious resolutions of outstanding issues. Sustainability scholar Grady Gammage, Jr., a senior research fellow at the Morrison Institute, is part of a team providing leadership until a full-time director is found.

Presenting a paradigmatic shift in the way a university can act as a force for good, Arizona State announces its first official charter. The comprehensive document focuses the university’s mission on the inclusion and success of all its students, and on a fundamental social responsibility to the communities ASU serves.

ASU President and Distinguished Sustainability Scientist Michael Crow describes the document as an expression of “the reason for the existence of the institution,” and one that re-imagines the role of a major university in the 21st century.

“We can make our universities produce master learners more dedicated to the breadth of our society, more dedicated to the betterment of our society, more dedicated to the betterment of our democracy,” he says. “If we can do that, we will have had a major impact on the outcome of humanity.”

With the goal of eliminating water contaminants that present challenges to communities worldwide, sustainability scientists and engineers Kiril Hristovski and Paul Westerhoff will work as part of a new national hub for research and innovation. The hub – funded through an EPA grant and known as the Design of Risk Reducing, Innovative Implementable Small System Knowledge (DeRISK) Center – will develop and test advanced, low-cost methods of reducing, controlling and eliminating common contaminants.

“The ultimate goal is to develop novel and sustainable technologies for photocatalytic water treatment that can move us closer toward using sunlight to convert nitrate and other contaminants to innocuous end-products without addition of any chemicals,” said Hristovski, who will lead the ASU team. “Nanomaterials will play a central role in this research endeavor.”

When it opened in 2005 with a generous gift from philanthropist Jerry Bisgrove, the center acted in a consulting capacity. Since this time, it has partnered with an array of communities – urban and rural, small and large – throughout the state. Now, it utilizes those partners to provide students with an opportunity for the practical application of classroom concepts. In addition to supplying welcomed assistance to participating partners, Stardust fellows gain valuable networking opportunities, insights and inspiration.

With a $100,000 grant from Open Society Foundation for Albania, ASU’s Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives are assisting Albania’s transition to sustainable education. Using ASU’s extensive resources, such as experts in green building and international development, the Walton Initiatives team will complete a cost-benefit analysis of energy efficiency in Albania’s public schools.

This analysis, conducted by the Walton Initiatives’ Global Sustainability Solutions Services in partnership with the East-West Management Institute, will be shared with international donor organizations, private investors and the Albanian government. Not only will the analysis direct retrofitting investments, it will support the Albanian Ministry of Education’s initiative to establish an Education Excellence Fund – a program to encourage and finance innovation in schools.

On Nov. 6, a letter signed by 240 of the world’s leading conservationists, including six from ASU’s new Center for Biodiversity Outcomes, was published in the journal Nature. The letter, titled “A call for inclusive conservation,” expresses discontent with a divisive debate in the conservation field over whether nature should be protected for its own sake or for the benefit of humankind.

To remedy this, the letter proposes an ethic of inclusiveness – one that recognizes the merits of each approach and encourages broader participation from the conservationist population. The letter’s six Center for Biodiversity Outcomes signatories agree that adoption of this ethic will help engage and align an expansive audience with conservation efforts.

“This is ushering in an era of cooperation where, typically in the past, each player has watched out and protected its own rights,” said White, co-director of Decision Center for a Desert City, in the article.

Sampson shared that the Colorado River’s flow could eventually fall to as little as 40% of its long-term average.

The agreement the article cites permits Phoenix to send some of its surplus water to Tucson, where it is needed to lower pumping costs. In return, Tucson will give a portion of its Colorado River water to Phoenix when needed.

Continuing its tradition of bringing internationally known thinkers and problem-solvers to engage with the community, the Wrigley Lecture Series welcomed physicist, food activist and author Vandana Shiva on Oct. 30. Shiva – who works to protect the diversity and integrity of native organisms, especially seeds, by promoting practices like organic farming – delivered a lecture titled “Future of Food: Dictatorship or Democracy.”

“Her prescient insights, including the importance of organic farming in feeding the world, are similar to the findings of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development,” said Joni Adamson, a sustainability scholar and professor of English and Environmental Humanities. “They provide many good reasons to invite her to talk about the future of food.”

A Thought Leader Series Piece

By Heather Lineberry

Note:Now through January 17, the ASU Art Museum hosts Trout Fishing in America and Other stories, an exhibition by artists Bryndis Snæbjörnsdóttir and Mark Wilson. The project is supported by a research grant from the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability.

Over the past four decades, solutions to the persistent and complex challenges of sustainability have typically been developed through scientific analysis. There has been an assumption that knowledge will lead to appropriate action. Recently the accuracy of this one-dimensional assumption has been in question, and many have begun to seek more effective ways of developing robust solutions.

About a year ago, Arnim Wiek from the School of Sustainability asked me to co-author a chapter for an introductory textbook on sustainability. This might seem an odd request for a contemporary art curator and art historian, but much of my research and curatorial work has explored the ways that artists have engaged with our challenges in living sustainably. I’ve found that art can facilitate deep collaboration across disciplines and social groups to challenge existing models and propose new ones.

Supported by a multimillion dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, a team of ASU researchers will develop an efficient and cost-effective carbon capture technology. The team, which includes co-principal investigators and sustainability scientists Cody Friesen and Ellen Stechel, will do so using an innovative electrochemical technique to separate carbon dioxide from other emissions originating from power plants. Additionally, it will explore the real possibility of reducing energy and cost requirements by more than half.

The project is part of a special Department of Energy program designed to pursue high-risk, high-reward advances in alternative energy research. It was was selected through a merit-based process from thousands of concept papers and hundreds of full applications. The results of the project could be an economically enabling breakthrough in the drive to reduce carbon emissions.

As a first-time applicant to the Bicycle Friendly University program, ASU recently earned a gold-level ranking. The designation, presented by the League of American Bicyclists, recognizes higher-learning institutions that foster sustainable, productive and efficient cycling environments. Particular attention is paid to the support of cycling initiatives, as well as access to both convenient riding areas and parking on campus.

“We are honored to receive this award from the League of American Bicyclists and to see ASU’s efforts recognized,” said JC Porter, assistant director of commuter services for ASU Parking & Transit Services. “In the past year, we have transformed the bicycling culture at ASU and reinforced our commitment to meeting the transportation needs of all students, staff and faculty who bike to and from campus.”